Gusakov T. Yu. Crimean dachas: History and the current development of rural-urban space // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2025. V.10. №3. P. 261-288.

EDN: OUCJGC

Annotation

The article considers the dacha movement on the Crimean Peninsula as a unique phenomenon in the development of rural areas under the transformation of spatial organization of society. The author reconstructs the historical evolution of dacha settlement — from the first estates and dachas of the Russian Empire to the numerous gardening and dacha cooperatives in the Soviet and post-Soviet periods. Based on pre-revolutionary and contemporary statistical, cartographic and legal sources and field studies, the author identifies the main stages and mechanisms in the formation of the dacha landscape in Crimea, its morphological and functional features, focusing on the current role of non-commercial associations as integrating rural territories into urban lifestyles, mechanisms of social mobility and multi-locality. The article considers institutional uncertainty, land fragmentation, infrastructural challenges and environmental risks associated with the uneven and often spontaneous dacha expansion. Dacha and gardening settlements have become an integral part of the settlement system, affecting landscapes, land use and social structure, promoting the development of new types of rural-urban communities and suburbanization. The article summarizes trends of the territorial distribution of dacha associations, provides examples of local practices and settlement transformation, stresses the need to consider the features of dacha development in regional policy and spatial planning, to ensure an inventory and institutionalization of such settlement forms for the sustainable development of Crimea. 

Keywords

Population geography, dachas, rural settlement, suburbanization, ruralurban communities, spatial mobility, spatial planning, informal settlements, Crimea.

About the author

Timur Y. Gusakov, Researcher, Center for Agrarian Studies, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration; Vernadskogo Prosp., 82, Moscow, 119571, Russia.
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.